


A Life of a Non-Royal Takumi

by Zalaphinia



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Fluff, Kid!Takumi, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zalaphinia/pseuds/Zalaphinia
Summary: An AU where Takumi is not, and will never be, a royal.He still manages to get inside Shirasagi anyway.I can't think of a proper title or summary, sorry. : /





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my first fanfic! (Ignore the other one, that was for school).  
> So I was thinking how Takumi was so insecure due to all the expectations everyone had for him, comparing him to Ryoma and all that. So I was wondering what he'd be like without all of that, which led me to think what would happen if he wasn't a royal. Then I read a bunch of other fanfic and manga, and after a whole lot of fiddling around with a bunch of ideas, this came out! 
> 
> Most of the characters are the same, although I played around with some of their ages.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takumi and Hinata are kids here, and Reina is around her late teens/early 20s.  
> 

It was late afternoon. Takumi didn’t even bother glancing around him as he ran through the forest. After a while, he approached a large tree, to which he immediately kicked its trunk before looking up, grinning as he saw his target. “I found you, Hinata! Now get down here!” he exclaimed.

“Make me!” Hinata shot back. “How did you find me so fast?”

Takumi shrugged, scanning the ground before picking up a decently sized pinecone and throwing it at Hinata. Hinata squawked as the pinecone made direct contact with his face and flailed his arms as he lost his balance and fell from the tree branch onto the dry leaves littering the ground below. “Ow…what was that for?” Hinata grumbled, rubbing his head where a bump was already forming.

“You dared me to. Also, you always hide in this tree when we’re playing hide-and-seek,” Takumi pointed out.

“No, I don’t! You’re just too good at this game!”

Takumi rolled his eyes while he helped Hinata to his feet. “No, you’re just really bad,” he managed to say before letting out a yelp as Hinata used the momentum to tackle Takumi, causing the both of them to tumble to the ground. The two tussled for a while before Takumi managed to break away. He watched Hinata cautiously, before grinning and charging right at Hinata.

Some time passed.

Takumi and Hinata lay down on the ground next to each other, panting slightly from the fierce battle (or so they imagined it was). The two were now a complete mess; Takumi had scrapes all over his body, and Hinata would likely be sporting many more bumps everywhere tomorrow. Takumi heard footsteps approaching them, and he looked up to see an upside-down Reina walking toward them, an amused smile on her face. He smiled widely, raising a hand to wave. “Hi Reina!”

Hinata noticed her too. “Reina!” He immediately jumped up and tried to tackle her as well. Reina defended against his tackle splendidly by easily catching and holding him in her arms. “Woah there! Sheesh, you still have so much energy. Good!” she laughed as she held him tightly, not letting go no matter how much he struggled.

Takumi got to his feet as well. “Good afternoon, miss Reina,” he said properly, remembering his manners. “Why are you out here?”

“Good  _ evening _ , Takumi. The sun’s already completely set, or have you not noticed? Your parents were starting to get a bit worried, so I told them I’d go look for you two rascals.” She replied, rebuking them slightly.

The two children blinked and looked up. Indeed, the sun had started setting a while back, and a couple stars were already starting to peek out. “Crap! We’re gonna miss dinner!” Hinata yelled, struggling even more to get out of Reina’s grasp, to no avail. Reina rolled her eyes, and motioned for Takumi to come over. “Come on, let’s get you two home.”

Takumi obediently trotted over to her side and grasped her outreached hand, and Reina led the two of them home.

 

\-----

 

When they finally reached the village, the boys’ dads were waiting outside, lightly conversing.

The moment Hinata noticed them, “Daaaaaaddddd!!!!!!”

He leapt from Reina’s arms straight into his dad’s arms, who caught him with ease and spun him around, causing Hinata to squeal with excitement. 

“You little rascal, how dare you make me wait!” Hinata’s dad said, ruffling Hinata’s hair as he trapped Hinata in his arms. 

“Noooo-” Hinata yelled, laughing as he tried to escape. The two continued to tussle in the background.

Takumi’s dad rolled his eyes in amusement as he picked Takumi up into his arms. “I hope these two didn’t give you too much trouble, miss Reina?” he asked as Takumi nuzzled into his embrace.

“Not too much. They were pretty close to the edge of the forest, in their usual spot, so it didn’t take too long to find them.” Reina replied.

“Well, that’s good, and I’m starving! So I’m taking off. See ya tomorrow!” Hinata’s dad yelled as he raced off towards their home with Hinata in tow, who also yelled  his farewells to them.

“Like father, like son, huh?” Reina commented as she watched them speed off into the distance.

Takumi’s dad smiled before directing his attention down to the child in his arms. “Did you have fun today, Takumi? Find any good beetles?” he asked.

“Mm-mm.” Takumi shook his head. The two children had gone off in search of beetles earlier, but gave up a few hours later when they didn’t find any and started playing hide-and-seek instead. “

“Hmm. How about you go ask Hinata’s dad tomorrow for any good spots? I’m sure he knows plenty,” Takumi’s dad suggested.

“We did that already. Didn’t find any in the good spots.” Takumi pouted slightly. 

Reina tilted her head curiously at that. “Hmm, that’s strange. Usually you’d find at least some at this point in time.”

“Well, there’s always tomorrow. For now, why don’t we get you home? I’m sure you’re starting to get hungry.”

“Mm-kay. Bye, miss Reina. See you later.” Takumi said as he looked up at Reina.

“Good night, Takumi,” Reina  replied, smiling gently at him. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The three went their separate ways. Reina headed back to the barracks while Takumi and his father returned to their small home. Upon arrival, Takumi smelled the scent of cooked rice and vegetables. He saw his mom had already set up the dinner table with their food, and wriggled his way out of his father’s arms to rush to the table, before being stopped by his mom.

“Uh-uh. You need to wash first, young man. I’m not letting you eat with those dirty hands of yours,” his mom said, shooing him off with her ladle.

Takumi pouted before obediently following his mom to get cleaned off. Afterwards, his mom checked his injuries, and finding them to be very mild, did some simple first aid before finally allowing him to eat dinner, which consisted of rice and some beans. The spring harvest was very plentiful this year, so they had more to eat, which Takumi was very happy about. After eating his fill, Takumi yawned. He had been playing in the forest the whole day, and so was more tired than usual. His parents chuckled at how cute he looked while he was yawning.

“Come on, Takumi. Let’s get you to bed,” his dad said as he motioned Takumi to get up.

Takumi sleepily crawled into bed, and watched his mom clean up the table and prepare for the next day. He soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

 

\----

 

Takumi woke up in the middle of the night. As he opened his eyes, sleepily blinking himself awake, he questioned why he had woken up for a moment before jolting as a scream pierced through the air. Now fully awake, he sat up, or tried to, at least. He realized that he was in his mom’s arms, backed up against the wall furthest from the door, where his dad currently was, cautiously peeking his head outside, a hoe in his hands. Takumi’s mom trembled as she held him. Although he didn’t understand what was going on, his parents seemed to be worried about something, and so Takumi was worried too.

Another scream filled the air, and Takumi’s dad stiffened as he stared in shock at something Takumi could not see before slamming the door shut and facing it, wielding the hoe as if it were a weapon. Right in front of his eyes, Takumi watched as a large fist, far too large to be human, punch straight through the door, breaking the doorframe into pieces and scattering pieces of wood everywhere. His mom screamed. Takumi was frozen stiff. His father yelled as he rushed towards the opening, attacking whatever it was with the hoe, to no avail. Takumi could see the vague shape of the monster, who was several times larger than his dad. He watched as the monster grabbed his father and squeezed hard. Takumi’s mom recovered her sense enough to cover Takumi’s eyes from the sight, but she couldn’t stop Takumi from hearing the sounds his father made as he was being crushed to death. 

When the sounds stopped, and Takumi realized that his father had died, he went into shock.

He recognized his mother screaming for help. He remembered a strong force hitting him. His mother’s hand had fallen away from his eyes then, and he had seen the monster right where he and his mom once were as they flew through the air. It almost felt like he was floating.

When they finally, inevitably, hit the ground, Takumi blacked out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Takumi's parents die in the first chapter.  
> So typical of anime parents (wait, this isn't an anime...ah well).
> 
> Later, I realized how similar this situation was compared to Mozu's. Meh.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no plot progression whatsoever in this chapter, so double update.
> 
> Also, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but thank you to Taroham for betaing all my chapters. <3

Ever since she was young, Reina had always admired the soldiers she frequently saw in the corridors of her home. As her family members were nobles, they had their own small private army in the rare case of uprisings. She loved watching them patrol the town whenever she went shopping. They always looked so diligent and proud of their work, and the stories they told whenever she visited them in the barracks were all so exciting. Grand tales of wild animals in the forest and deadly bandits stalking the roads, chaotic fights which they won through blood and sweat. Reina knew that the stories were probably a bit exaggerated, but listening to them still caused adrenaline to course through her veins, filling her with awe and excitement. Reina wanted to be exactly like them when she grew up.

But her parents forbade it. They expected her to grow up to be a noble lady, one who would follow in their footsteps after they retire, managing domestic affairs. Reina didn’t want that though. She understood that it was an important task, but she knew that it wasn’t the path for her, sitting at a desk and reading documents from dawn until dusk. There were many arguments, but in the end her parents could not convince her, and she joined the army as a trainee, leaving the inheritance of the land to her younger brother. At the time, her parents had given her a custom-made silk apron in hopes that she would one day change her mind. Reina knew that she would never, but took the apron anyway as a form of appeasement to her parents, as well as a way to remember them.

The first several months were difficult. As Reina never really managed to find time to train before enlisting, since her parents forced her to attend history lessons and knitting sessions from morning till evening, she was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of labor that she had to do. Every night she promptly fell asleep the moment she collapsed on her futon, and woke up sore from the bruises all over her body. She eventually managed to get into shape and build up her form (through many an after-hours training session), and was soon one of the best trainees.

When Reina was assigned to a unit of sky knights, she was excited. She knew that as a newly formed unit, they would not be given any crucial missions, but she was finally able to start fulfilling her dream of fighting monsters and protecting the citizens of Hoshido. Then she discovered that her unit was assigned to patrol the border between Nohr and Hoshido, right in front of the Bottomless Canyon.

She was...a bit disappointed, to be sure. The location was very rural, with a few villages scattered about. It was of no strategic importance, and had few reports of wolves or bears in the neighboring forest, so the majority of her time would probably be spent visiting the villages and helping out in miscellaneous tasks. She...supposed it wasn’t too bad of a start to her life as a soldier.

The first couple of days there was spent travelling between the villages, meeting the villagers and learning their customs, which were wildly different from those she learned as a young noble. As one of the few young women in the army, she was apparently expected to have some innate talent at dealing with children. She did not. Thus, when the first batch of mothers forced their children upon her and rushed off to do whatever task it was, she had little clue as to what she was supposed to do. That day was very chaotic indeed, as she tried to keep all the children within sight as well as make sure they were happy and entertained. After several days of this (each day a different batch of mothers; really, what were they doing?), Reina started becoming very adept at handling children, and each day became filled with joy as she interacted with the young ones.

Through this process, Reina grew closer to all the children in the villages, especially two from a village bordering very close to the nearby forest, Takumi and Hinata. The latter seemed to not know how to speak normally, as he was always shouting his words no matter how close the other person was to him. His parents were both equally boisterous, so she assumed that he was just never taught how to speak at a normal volume. 

Takumi had surprised her. The first time she had seen his silky silver hair and large amber eyes, she was flabbergasted. She had just met his parents, and they had the typical black hair and black eyes everyone else in the village had, so seeing his obvious physical differences made her speechless.

She had heard of such incidents before. In Hoshido, there was a very low possibility that a child will be born with such features, but she had never met any up until then (her hometown was sadly lacking in regards to such beautiful people). The rumor behind the strange phenomenon was that the children born with silver hair were actually blessed by the Dawn Dragon, who had always been depicted with amber eyes and silver scales in the few paintings the historians had managed to find and preserve. Such a blessing would let them experience great fortune and luck throughout their lives, and allow them to overcome all obstacles set before their path. Reina didn’t really believe in any of it, but such silver-haired people still made quite a spectacle. It also made for very awkward first impressions, as the moment Reina had set her eyes on Takumi, she stared at him, mouth agape, until he started fidgeting under her gaze (she hastily introduced herself afterwards, to which he mumbled a reply sounding vaguely like his name).

Anyhow, the two children were nearly inseparable. Whether it was playing in the forest, “helping” their fathers in the fields or their mothers in the village, they were always together. As Reina paid the most attention to these two (as they were the most rambunctious of the children), they quickly became much closer, and the two began treating her almost like an older sister.

Reina came to love these two children over all the others, and spent most of her free time playing with them. She participated in many of their games, and even thought up of some activities of her own. She would let them pet and play with her pegasus, and even take them for a quick flight near the village if permission was granted. One time she had showed them how she trained with her lance, and Takumi appeared especially fascinated by her movements, even trying to mimic her halfway through (Hinata didn’t seem particularly impressed though, claiming that a katana was “way cooler”. He and Takumi then proceeded to have a fight to the death over which weapon was better. Reina struggled hard not to laugh during the whole time. It had ended in a draw, to the disappointment of the children).

Beyond babysitting all the children, Reina did actually perform her actual task of patrolling the border. She also helped with other small tasks such as fixing houses, helping during the spring and autumn harvests, and hunting some wolves and bears with the other soldiers if there were any sightings. While not as exciting as the stories told by the soldiers back home, Reina could say that she was satisfied with her current life, unlike how she thought in the beginning.

 

So when she heard the reports of an attack on the village where Takumi and Hinata lived, she was stunned. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time trying to write a fight scene, I think it went okay.
> 
> Also, I'm only ever gonna post on Saturday. Won't be every Saturday, but if I ever decide to post, it'll be a Saturday.

As Reina rushed to prepare for a battle she couldn’t help but wonder: in such a peaceful land, where had such monsters come from? They had followed through on all the reports of dangerous wildlife, so what could possibly be attacking the village? Reina paused. Could it be...Nohrians? Had they finally decided to break the peace treaty and attack Hoshido?

Reina shook her head. It didn’t matter who or what it was. What was important right now was getting to the village as fast as possible and saving as many villagers as she could. She resumed preparing and headed out along with the rest of her unit. 

Her commander had sent a messenger to a nearby unit of kinshi knights, more experienced in battle than Reina’s troop, just in case they were unable to handle the situation. Their main priority, as given by her commander, was to save as many villagers as possible. Eliminating the monsters came second. There were only two healers stationed at their barracks, so they had to avoid incurring any wounds if possible.

As they were a group of sky knights, they arrived swiftly to the village, and were shocked at the scene. Although it was too dark to tell, Reina could definitely say that those were not Nohrians attacking the village, nor were they any regular old beasts. 

Reina saw one of the monsters send one of the villagers flying through the air. She panicked. She had become close to many of the villagers and did not want to see any of them die, not if she could help it. She dived down toward the monster, leaving the other soldiers behind, and slashed at its back. She was surprised when her spear barely nicked its skin, only dealing a shallow wound. She did manage to divert the monster’s attention, though, as it roared in irritation, spinning around and swinging a fist at her in its fury. Surprised at its speed, Reina pulled up on the pegasus’ reins in an attempt to get away, but the monster landed a hit on the pegasus. Reina heard the sound of the pegasus’ ribs cracking as the force of the punch knocked her off balance, causing her to fall off as the pegasus crashed to the group next to her, wings flapping wildly.  Her training kicked in and she rolled onto the ground As Reina was not directly hit she only had some mild wounds, but the pegasus was unlikely to make it after receiving such a severe injury.

While Reina was recovering from the fall, the monster swung at her, and she hurriedly dodged to the side. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a soldier fly down and quickly rescue the villager before rushing away from the battle scene. Her relief was short-lived as she was suddenly struck by something across her side. Reeling from the impact, she hastily moved out of the creature’s attack range. By this point, three other soldiers had arrived, and began injuring the monster by performing hit-and-run attacks from their pegasi. The monster roared angrily and swung its fists at the flying sky knights, attempting to knock them out of the sky like it did with her. While they managed to safely dodge the attacks most of the time, every so often they yelled in pain as they were struck by the invisible object. Reina squinted, trying to see what it was. Although it was hard to tell in the dark, the monster seemed to be swinging some sort of long metal object each time it swung its fists As soon as she figured it out, the monster managed to hit another of the sky knights, knocking the soldier out of the sky, who landed unfortunately close to the monster’s feet. Before he could escape like Reina did, the monster stomped heavily on him, crushing his ribs and killing him instantly. Reina flinched, pausing in her footsteps. The soldier’s death affected the rest of the sky knights too as one of them who was midway through his attack faltered, hitting the monster with much less force than before. The monster took this chance, knocking the soldier off his pegasi as well. He crashed into one of the nearby houses, and lay there unmoving as several wooden planks fell on top of him. 

Reina bit her lip, wondering if this was a good time for her and the last remaining sky knight to retreat. According to their orders, saving the villagers was first priority. It would be difficult to take down the monster with only two of them left, and they’ve already managed to injure it enough such that it would be slowed down quite a bit, making it much less dangerous for any stray villagers. They could probably leave it up to the more experienced kinshi knights to take it down while they focus on rescuing the rest of the villagers. 

Her decision would soon be made for her, though, as the ground suddenly began to shake. As she looked over in the direction the shaking was coming from, her eyes widened.

 

\---------

 

Takumi woke up, his head in a haze. As he came to, he realized that there was a heavy weight on top of him. Struggling a bit, he managed to turn himself so he could see what it was. He froze when he recognized it.

His brain barely registered the face of his mom when a thud sounded behind him. Looking in that direction, his eyes widened as he saw the monster shambling over. Evidently, it had realized that he was still alive and was lumbering over to finish the job. Takumi scrambled out from under his mother’s body, panicking as he was trying to escape from the monster. As he got to his feet, he tried to shake his mother awake, but she laid there, unmoving. Tears began pooling in Takumi’s eyes as he tried shaking her even harder as the monster got closer, even trying to pull her away with him to safety. When the monster was almost atop them, Takumi made a difficult choice.

He abandoned his mother and ran away. His tears streamed down his face, his vision blurry as he stumbled his way towards the center of the village. The monster stayed close behind his feet, and Takumi panicked. Takumi ran as fast as he could, instinctively ducking through and under rubble in an attempt to hinder the creature’s advance. He soon heard people yelling nearby, and without thinking changed direction towards the sound. As he continued to run, he began to see a human figure, a normal one, and recognized who it was even in the darkness of the night.

He gathered the rest of his breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“REINNNAAAAAAAAA!”

 

\---------

 

Reina scrambled to hold Takumi safely into her arms as he catapulted himself straight into her. She signalled for the remaining sky knight to retreat, and ran off in the direction opposite of the monster that was chasing Takumi. She threw her lance in its direction, reducing her load and hopefully injuring it in the process. She quickly glanced behind her. The one she had been attacking earlier was slowed down by its injuries, but the other monster was not. This one was apparently much faster than the one she was dealing with, as it was able to keep up with her pace, and she gritted her teeth as she worked her legs even harder. Takumi was clinging tightly to her uniform, head buried into her shoulder as he trembled violently from fear. Reina held him just as tightly, wanting to comfort him, but was too busy running to do so. Her injury on her side was starting to slow her down, so she tried to shake the monster off her trail by suddenly changing direction, rushing off to the left, but apparently the monster was prepared for that as it easily switched direction as well, and continued after her. 

Reina cursed silently to herself. When the monster suddenly began slowing down, Reina looked back in confusion, only to immediately turn back around and run even faster. The stupid, irritating monster was actually picking up and throwing debris from the side of the road at her, and Reina absolutely did not want to be within range. Luckily, she was far enough that most of it missed her, but some stray pieces grazed her back and legs, and she stumbled. She squeezed Takumi tighter to her chest, trying to avoid letting any of hit him, and kept running, albeit somewhat slower now.

The monster began chasing her again, and Reina cursed as she realized that due to her new injuries, she was now actually slower compared to it. As she looked around for any escape routes, she found nothing but wide empty fields. Evidently, she had left the village and was now running through the farmland. As she stumbled forward, completely out of breath, she noticed a vague shadow covering a part of the moon. As more and more shadows began appearing, she quickly realized what they were and brought her fingers to her mouth, producing a sharp whistling sound. She prayed to every god out there that they heard.

They did. Right when the monster was about to reach her, an arrow flew right above Reina’s head and pierced right through the monster’s throat. It fell down gurgling, and Reina hastily got out of its way. She collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, Takumi still held tightly to her chest. As she lay there, she watched as shadow after shadow flitted above her, heading straight towards the village. They began diving down, and whenever they did, a monster’s angry roar could be heard, before being silenced forever. Reina smiled wearily.

The kinshi knight unit had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone notice that Reina hardly did any actual fighting? It's kinda funny looking back at it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Downtime from all that action.

The battle was over now, the sun slowly climbing its way above their heads. All of the monsters lay dead, scattered over the battleground. Two-thirds of the village population managed to survive, quite a few given the strength of the attackers. The kinshi knights, several healers, and the few uninjured sky knights that remained were currently helping clean up the aftermath of the battle and taking care of the surviving villagers. Some were helping carry the injured over to the nursing  station created close to the village; others were setting up temporary shelter nearby.

  


Currently, Reina and Takumi were in said nursing station, being attended to by one of the several priestesses who arrived alongside the kinshi knights. She looked the two over, taking note of what injuries they had. Seeing that their injuries weren’t too heavy, she took a bloom festal from her pouch. As she waved the festal, Reina felt a warm breeze blow gently past her skin as her wounds healed over. The magic did not recover her stamina, but at least she didn’t have to worry about infection anymore. The priestess checked over the two just in case any injuries weren’t fully healed. Seeing that all their injuries had been healed, she told the two to take it easy for the rest of the day and went off to help the other patients.

  


Reina looked down at Takumi, who was staring blankly off into the distance, and sighed. He had been like this for a while now, ever since they went to find his mother. After that long flight from the monster, Reina was too tired to move, and had laid there in the field for the rest of the battle, unable to do anything more than weakly hold Takumi close to her. Once she had recovered some of her strength, the battle was already over. Takumi was initially worried about her injuries, but she had managed to convince him that none of them were too serious. After that, his attention had turned towards his mother. He seemed to be in a panic and practically begged Reina to go back to his house to find his mom. Reina agreed. In hindsight, she probably shouldn’t have. The state of his mother was...unpleasant to look at. His father wasn’t much better off. Takumi had cried many tears then.

  


Ever since then, he hadn’t spoken a single word. No doubt the incident had traumatized him. She sighed as she stood up. She definitely needed to find someone who could take care of Takumi while she reported to her commander. No doubt she’d be sent immediately to help out with tasks after checking in, and she would have no time to watch after him. After thinking for a bit, she walked towards the tents.

  


Reina looked around while she was walking. Even now, there were villagers reuniting after being separated during the attack, and she smiled bittersweetly at the scene of a mother tightly hugging her child, crying all the while. People had already begun settling into the temporary housing, having brought over their surviving belongings. There weren’t all that many people sleeping. Reina guessed it wasn’t all that surprising. It’d be quite hard to fall asleep after being in such danger.

  


“Oh! Is that you, Reina?” a familiar voice spoke out.

  


Reina blinked and looked over. A young woman stood next to a fire, stirring vegetable soup in a large pot. Evidently, she was making what seemed to be breakfast for the entire village. Reina easily recognized her as Hinata’s mother, Kasumi. And if she was here, then....

  


Reina started as someone tackled her legs, clinging to her tightly. “Reinnaaaaa you’re aliiiiiive!!!” yelled Hinata.

  


The shout from Hinata badly startled Takumi out of his stupor, and he yelped, looked about wildly as he tried to find the source of the noise. His shout had shocked Hinata, who stood frozen in surprise as Reina turned her attention to Takumi, trying to calm him down from his panic. Kasumi, having noticed the situation, immediately walked over and smacked Hinata over the head before beginning to console Takumi herself.

  


Eventually, Takumi calmed down from his panic, but he still clung tightly to Reina and hid his face in her chest, refusing to look at anything. Kasumi glared fiercely at Hinata, who looked confused and distressed. “Now look what you’ve done, Hinata. You went and upset poor Takumi. He’s been through enough, you know!” Kasumi scolded.

  


Hinata, realizing that Takumi’s reaction w as due to him, hung his head in shame. “S-sorry,” he mumbled, quiet for once.

  


Kasumi sighed. “Well, for now, go off and tell everyone that breakfast’s ready, alright?”

  


“But-”

  


Kasumi lifted an eyebrow. Hinata stopped his protests immediately and walked off, slowly, dejected. Kasumi sighed again, and turned to look at Reina, giving her a tired smile. “Despite what just happened, it’s good to see you two safe and sound.”

  


Reina smiled back. “It’s good to see you as well, ma’am. How is your husband doing?”

  


Her smile turned strained, and she cast her eyes on the ground. “He’s...in a better place now.”

  


Reina stiffened. “Oh, um, I-I’m sorry-” she said, flustered.

  


“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Kasumi waved it off. “Death’s a part of life and all that, you know? Le t’s...let’s not talk about it. After all that fighting, you must be hungry, huh? Let’s get some food in you two.”

  


“Eh? Ah, no, I need to report to my commander…” Reina began.

  


Kasumi rolled her eyes. “Nonsense. You can’t do anything on an empty stomach. Now come on.”

  


Reina was led by Kasumi to sit down on one of the benches near the fire. Kasumi then placed two bowls of soup next to her on the bench. The other villagers were beginning to gather, and Kasumi became busy ladling soup for everyone, some younger women helping her out along the way.

  


Reina gently nudged Takumi. “Takumi, it’s time to eat,” she said, trying her best to sound cheerful.

  


There was a pause, before Takumi slowly lifted his head from her chest to look around carefully, noticing the bowl of soup next to him on the bench. Reina picked up the bowl and held it in front of Takumi, who stared at it before shaking his head, returning to his shelter in Reina’s arms.

  


Reina frowned slightly, and put the bowl back on the bench.  “What’s wrong, Takumi?”

  


“Not hungry,” Takumi mumbled after a period of silence.

  


Reina sighed. After seeing his parents in such a state, it’s no wonder that he would have no appetite. However… “You need to keep your strength up, Takumi,” she tried. “Your parents wouldn’t want you to go hungry, you know?”

  


“Doesn’t matter. They’re dead,” he muttered.

  


Reina inwardly cringed. Mentioning his parents was probably a bad idea. As she puzzled over what she should do next, she noticed Hinata over near the fire. Having notified all the villagers about breakfast, he probably came back with them. As he held a bowl up for his mother to fill, she noticed that his eyes were red and puffy. No doubt he had cried quite a bit when he realized his father had died. Reina’s heart ached. So many of the people here lost someone whom they loved. She sighed, wishing she had tried harder to protect them, that she was stronger, something that would’ve saved the lives that were lost. It was too late now, though.

  


With a bowl of soup in hand, Hinata trotted over to them before stopping a short distance away. He looked hesitantly at Takumi, before slowly, quietly approaching them, placing his bowl along with theirs and carefully sitting himself on the bench, trying to not make any noise during the process. Takumi peeked at him from the corner of his eye, watching his every move. Reina watched the two of them curiously. Hinata fidgeted about for a moment. “U-Um!” he yelled out suddenly, startling Takumi.

  


Hinata quickly covered his mouth with his hands. “S-sorry,” he apologized, his voice muffled. “A-and, sorry for earlier, too,” he added on soon after.

  


“Oh, um, i-it’s okay,” Takumi said, looking away from Hinata, feeling a bit awkward.

  


“Really!?” Hinata got up really close to Takumi’s face.

  


“R-really,” Takumi started to feel a little irritated. “Don’t get so close to me, idiot!”

  


Hinata quickly sat back down, smiling happily. His stomach growled. Hinata blinked and looked down at his stomach. “Oh yeah! I was really hungry!” he exclaimed as he picked up his bowl and began quickly gulping the soup down his throat. He then looked up and noticed that Takumi didn’t pick up his bowl at all. “What’s wrong? Stomachache?” Hinata asked curiously.

  


“A-ah, no, I’m not-” Takumi’s stomach growled as well. He blushed.

  


Hinata frowned. “You’re hungry!” He dropped his bowl on the bench and picked up Takumi’s, holding it in front of his face. “When you’re hungry, you eat! That’s what dad always said. So come on!”

  


Takumi glowered at him. “I got it already, idio t,” Takumi snapped, snatching the bowl from Hinata.

  


He chomped angrily at a spoonful of soup, huffing the whole time. Reina chuckled at the two of them. She was glad that Hinata managed to convince Takumi to finally eat (though she doubted he did it intentionally). Although she couldn’t save their parents, at the very least she will protect these two with her life. She made this resolve silently to herself, and started on her own breakfast, listening to the two continue to bicker all the while. 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure people are usually much more traumatized when their parents die in front of their eyes, but Mozu didn't seem all that affected either, so I think this much is fine.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: mild underage drinking  
> As in, I make one of the boys drink some alcohol.  
> I find it funny. I'm sorry if you don't.
> 
> Thanks to taroham as usual for being my beta. : )

After finishing breakfast, both Hinata and Takumi began to nod off. Evidently, staying up all night was starting to take its toll on the two children. Kasumi, having finished breakfast herself, came over and chuckled at the sight. “Come on, you two. Time for bed. I certainly need some sleep,” she said, suppressing a yawn.

She casually picked the two boys up, and said farewell to Reina. Reina knew she could trust her to take care of them, and so set off to find her commander. As expected, he was none too happy about how late she was reporting to him, and thus assigned more work to her. Reina performed her tasks dutifully. While she was busy cleaning up the debris along with the other soldiers, she came across multiple of the monsters’ corpses. Now that it was daylight, she had a much better view of the creature, and she was disgusted by what she saw. 

The monster took on a humanoid figure, although no one would ever mistake it for a human, given its green skin and unnatural muscles. Not to mention its strange iron mask cast over its face. Reina noticed that the monster actually had shackles on its wrists, with the chains still attached. Those must be what were used to injure her and the others during the fight. Some soldiers were busy hauling the monster’s corpses off to the diviners, who would examine them and figure out what exactly they were. Their report on the creatures would then be given to the commanders’ and sent off to the higher authorities. 

Reina looked away from them and focused on her tasks, finishing only when the sun had finally set.

The next day, she went to visit Takumi and the others. Well, she technically went back to the village to continue helping with the restoration efforts and naturally encountered the three along the way. The two children had wanted to be with Reina, but Kasumi shooed them off, stating that she was busy and shouldn’t be bothered. 

During their short interaction, Reina noted the two boys’ behavior. Hinata seemed to be more or less like himself. Takumi acted like he was all better now, but Reina could tell that he was still strongly affected by the attack. She hoped that, given more time and some help, he would be able to make a full recovery from the event. Reina planned to be there for him whenever he needed it.

When Reina had a break for lunch, Kasumi had come along and brought her some food to add some variety to her soldier’s diet. Reina thanked her graciously and began eating.

“You know,” Kasumi began. “We’re planning on having the funeral in a couple days from now.”

Reina looked up from her food. “Oh. Really?”

“Yeah. Can you come? After all this time, you’re basically family. I’m sure everyone would be happy that you’re seeing them off.”

Reina felt warmed by her words. “Of course I will.”

Over the next few days, the village restoration continued. Construction of the new houses was going smoothly. Fields were being slowly repaired. While it was too late to sow seeds for the autumn harvest, they were aiming to be ready in time for winter. Reina managed to find time each day to spend with the boys, whether it was during her lunch break or after the sun had set, from running around playing games to lazing about telling the boys all sorts of stories near the fireplace. While there were a few odd days he looked rather downcast, carrying slightly baggy eyes, he was recovering, slowly but surely. He had started bickering with Hinata over pointless topics again, and his smiles were becoming more and more genuine.  Whenever Reina saw Takumi like this, she returned his smiles in earnest, hoping that she would soon be able to see him smile like he did before all this happened.

Eventually, the day of the funeral came. 

By the time Reina arrived, night had fallen, and the bonfire was already set up. She went off in search of Kasumi, and found her nearby with the two boys. Takumi perked up when he saw her, and waved at her. Hinata was much more quiet than usual, due to the solemn atmosphere blanketing the village. Kasumi quickly ushered them over to the bonfire, where the rest of the villagers were already at.

 

\-----

 

Before they lit the bonfire, the new village elder (who wasn’t elderly at all), came up to speak in front of the bonfire. He listed each of the deceased’s names and spoke fondly of their lives, the deeds they had done for the village, both great and small, and how it was the duty of everyone there to carry on their memory. The bonfire was then lit. Takumi watched as the fire burned brightly against the night sky, flickering slightly in the gentle breeze. He was told by the adults that as the smoke from the fire rose into the sky, it brought with it the souls of his parents and everyone else, so that they could make the stars their home. Up there, they could see the whole village, and the entire world, watching over everyone. Up there where the dragons resided, they would be safe forevermore. 

As the fire burned, the village elder led everyone in prayer for the departed souls. Takumi bowed his head, clasping his hands together as the elder prayed to the Dawn Dragon for the souls’ safe passage. As he prayed, he thought of his parents who had protected him to the very end. He thought of how instead of running away, they had fought so hard to keep him alive, throwing their own lives away in the process. And now they were ascending into the sky, finding a star to call their new home.

Takumi dipped his head further, hiding the tears in his eyes. He shouldn’t be crying. He should be happy that his parents are safe and in a better place, living with the great dragons.

He still wished that they were here, though.

 

\-----

 

“Hey, bring more sake over here!” (Random Villager A)

“Ah, my cheeks are so warm...” (Elderly Villager B)

“Munch, munch, munch…” (???)

Once there was a thick column of smoke in the air, the villagers began the festivities. This too, was tradition. There was fear that as the deceased departed from their bodies, they would stay on the earth and become wandering spirits due to worrying over their loved ones. Over time, they would begin to lose their memories and in the end go insane, attacking those around them, resulting in many unfortunate accidents. At this point in time, those affected by the spirits’ actions can only call upon the diviners to purify the land and exorcise the spirits. To ease the worries of the departed so that none of this will happen, the living would hold a feast celebrating the lives of the deceased, drinking and making merry, so that the deceased would be at ease and depart with the smoke.

The adults had gone all out for this feast. Several had gone over to the larger town to trade what little they had for large amounts of sake and meat, and many of the neighboring villages donated heaps of vegetables. The women were busy all morning and afternoon to cook up the meals. Everyone had skipped dinner, and were thus starving. Takumi chomped ravenously on the deer meat, chewing it in bliss. They rarely ever got to eat meat on regular days, and while Takumi would prefer his parents were around...meat was still good. Next to him, Hinata was wolfing down as many pieces of wild boar as he could grab, gulping down water when he began to choke. A group of young women were happily chatting on the opposite end of the clearing, sharing their favorite stories of the deceased. Over to the side, some of the men had started a drinking competition. Kasumi was actually participating along with the men, and from the looks of it, she was getting rather tipsy. Reina was invited to compete with them, but she refused, citing the excuse that she needed to look after the boys. While she was doing so, she was also forcing the two to eat vegetables, to their dismay.

Eventually, the plate of meat ran out. “I’m gonna get more,” Hinata shouted, jumping up as he rushed towards the spit to grab another helping. 

However, as he rushed over, “Hey, it’s the brat! Come over, join us!” a burly man yelled, grabbing Hinata and hauling him over to the drinking competition. He plopped down a small drinking cup filled to the brim with sake in front of Hinata. “Drink up, boy! Show that you’re a man!”

Hinata stared wide-eyed at the cup, then looked to his mom for help. She raised her own (larger) cup and grinned, obviously drunk. “Kanpai!” she yelled slovenly.

Hinata looked down at the cup before resolutely picking it up and drinking the sake in one gulp. He immediately scrunched his face but determinedly swallowed all of it, and proceeded to cough his throat out. 

The adult men cheered.  "You'll be spewin’ fire like a champ soon enough, my boy! Wahaha!"

That burly man from earlier then noticed Takumi watching them. “Oi, other brat! Come join us too!” he yelled as he staggered up to his feet and stumbled over to Takumi. 

Takumi looked at him, then at Hinata, who had now collapsed on the ground after being forced to drink another cup, and shook his head vehemently before quickly hiding behind Reina, who looked between him and the man uncertainly. 

As the man walked over, he finally noticed Reina. He stared at her for a moment, thinking hard. “Ah! You’re the soldier who always comes by, right?”

“Eh? Ah, yes…”

He nodded. “I see! You should come drink with us, too, then!”

“Ah, no, I don’t-” Reina began.

“Come on! Show some spirit! Let them see just how happy you are right now!” he said, grinning wildly.

Reina had few options left. Takumi quickly ran away to the group of young women, who easily welcomed him into their ranks. He mentally gave a word of prayer for Reina’s safety and health. And so, Reina was forced to join the drinking competition, and was easily knocked out after a couple drinks.

 

\-------

 

The next day, Takumi ate breakfast with Reina. Reina apparently had an incredible recovery rate, and only had a small headache from all that drinking yesterday. Once she was done eating, she was off to the barracks, looking a bit worried. Takumi hoped she wouldn’t be punished for staying out late. Kasumi was out cold along with most of the other adult villagers, including the elderly. After the feast, Takumi and the few people who weren’t knocked out had taken all the blankets they had and covered everyone so that they would get cold. Takumi had snuggled up against Reina for warmth, feeling most comfortable being next to her.

Anyway, Takumi was bored. Hinata, who had drunk far too much for his age last night, was busy visiting his dad for a while, so Takumi had no one to play with. He could only fiddle around with some toys  by himself while waiting for Reina to come back.

After some time, he finally saw Reina’s pegasus off in the distance. He immediately jumped up, abandoning the toys, and rushed off in her direction, waving his hands wildly at her. As she landed near him and jumped off her pegasus, Takumi noticed that she was deep in thought. “Good afternoon, miss Reina,” he said, curious as to what was the matter.

“Hm? Oh, good afternoon, Takumi.” Reina replied absentmindedly.

Takumi tilted his head, confused. “Um...is something wrong, miss Reina?”

Reina stared at him for a while longer, before finally saying, “Hey Takumi, what do you  think of visiting the capital?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always found it weird that they never show the funerals for all the anime parents that died. So here's a funeral for all of them.  
> Also, we're finally moving onto the capital. Sheesh, finally.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reina and Takumi meet Mikoto. Reina kinda accidentally becomes Takumi's mom, and Mikoto is perfectly fine with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, it's been two months. And for a shorter chapter too. Sorry about that. I couldn't really figure out how to write this chapter. Still don't think it's the best, but oh well. Hope you enjoy!

Takumi squinted his eyes as he peered into the distance. “Miss Reina, I think I see it!”

Reina smiled warmly as she gripped the reins of her pegasus to keep it steady. “Yep, there it is. Mitsushige, the capital of Hoshido!”

Takumi gazed in awe as they flew closer. The capital was large, far larger than his little village. The city surrounded by a protective wall, where crowds of people gathered at the gates for entry and departure. Bountiful colors covered the buildings and clothed the citizens. A large market could be seen to the east. As they slowly descended, Takumi could even faintly hear the shouting of sales and the names of all kinds of fruits and vegetables. A huge plaza was situated right in the center of the city, with a large statue whose features Takumi couldn’t quite make out. The palace was located north of the plaza, surrounded by even more walls and looking even more beautiful than the sakura trees surrounding it. It was the fanciest building Takumi had ever seen in his life, and he was sure he could fit his house in it fifty times over.

“It’s amazing, miss Reina!” Takumi exclaimed, leaning down to get a closer look.

Reina grabbed him before he fell off. “Woah, be careful! You’ll have time to explore later, okay?” she laughed. 

She remembered the first time she had seen the capital.  The bustle of city life and multitude of cultures mingling in one place was so different from the humdrum of noble life. Though the visit was ruined by all the social events she was forced to attend, the impression of the capital itself stayed wonderful inside her heart.

They landed outside the outer walls near the western gate, where another soldier was waiting for them. After Reina showed him the invitation letter, the soldier immediately let them into the city. Reina’s new pegasus (which Hinata had crowned Bou) was taken by some soldiers to the stables, while she and Takumi were led straight to the palace. The waiting room they were taken to was rather simple in design. There was a table with low-seat cushions surrounding it, some potted plants and a scroll depicting a plain, plane landscape. Takumi explored the room, admiring the scroll and examining the furniture (which, to his eyes, were all very expensive) while Reina mentally prepared herself for whoever it was she was going to meet. No doubt they had heard that Takumi was a blessed child and had intentions to adopt him. However, Takumi had expressed his objections to this on the way here, so Reina would do everything she could to prevent it. She had told Takumi before they arrived to leave all the talking to her, and was ready (well, as ready as she could be) for whatever challenges were to come.

After some time, a servant knocked on the paper door and announced the presence of Her Majesty, Empress Mikoto. 

Reina froze as the door slide open. Empress? As in, the wife of the ruling Emperor, Emperor Sumeragi? That Empress Mikoto? Her thoughts swirled about as Empress Mikoto stepped into the room. She displayed an elegant and gentle appearance, wearing  a long, flowing priestess’ garment. A silk cloak with a flared collar sat on her shoulders, parting in the middle to show a plain white kimono with a golden cherry blossom insignia and chain pinned on top. Her abundant black hair was fastened into a ponytail by a sun-shaped plate ornament . She seemed to radiate a serene aura, looking like an angel.

However, Reina didn’t believe that in the slightest. When Mikoto was crowned Empress four years ago, a whole slew of ill rumors about her had popped up. While many of these rumors were likely exaggerated due to the court’s favor for the late Empress Ikona, all rumors had a grain of truth in them. The way the current Emperor fell in love at first sight with her was highly suspicious, and the fact the First Empress died so soon afterwards was doubly so. This was made all the more dangerous when you consider that absolutely nothing was known about her. It was as if she had just popped up out of nowhere one day with a small child in her arms. These rumors had died down soon after, but there have always been whispers about her in the darker corners of the streets. There was no way Reina would ever let Takumi be with such a mysterious woman.

However, despite her misgivings, Reina still had to show respect to her as befitting her position as the Empress. Reina dropped to the ground and kneeled, surprising Takumi. He quickly emulated her stance, though he peeked curiously at the newcomer. “At ease, soldier,” Mikoto gently said as she sat down at the table. 

Reina waited until Mikoto had fully settled down before finally moving and sitting on the opposite side of the table with Takumi. She held Takumi’s hand as she stared straight at the table, making sure not to make any eye contact with Mikoto. Who knows what she might do were Reina to commit any gaffes? Noticing Reina’s tense behavior, Takumi stayed silent as well and kept his head down, clutching Reina’s hand just a bit tighter.

“Thank you for taking the time to come here, Reina and Takumi,” she said, nodding to each of the two. 

“It’s nothing, Your Majesty. It is our deepest pleasure to be able to serve you,” Reina cautiously replied. She was somewhat surprised that the Empress had called them so...intimately, but she supposed that Empress Mikoto could do just about anything she wanted. It’s not like there was really anyone to call her out for it. 

If Reina was looking, she would’ve seen Empress Mikoto grimace slightly. “The reason I called you here today is to gather further details on the incident that occurred recently. From what I heard, you were one of the first responders to the attack. Could you give me a report on what happened?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Reina answered before delving into an explanation of the incident. She made sure to be as detailed as possible, though she omitted some of the finer points when it came to Takumi. She didn’t want to draw too much attention to him, after all.

Takumi was quiet the entire time Reina was talking, though she could see him fidgeting a bit in his seat. She squeezed his hand a bit tighter, silently encouraging him to endure for just a bit longer. After she finished, the room went silent as Empress Mikoto sipped her tea, quietly contemplating over Reina’s account of the incident.

Empress Mikoto finally set her cup down on the table and smiled at Reina. “Thank you for the explanation, Reina. This was very helpful. What happened to Takumi’s village has left a painful mark, but know that we shall do everything in our power to prevent something like this from happening again.”

“We thank you for concerning yourself with us, Your Majesty,” Reina humbly replied.

A brief pause ensued before Empress Mikoto tilted her head slightly to look at Takumi. “This is the blessed child that was involved in the attack, correct? I believe his parents have since passed away?”

“...Yes, that is correct, Your Majesty.”

“I see. And is there anyone planning to adopt him?”

Here it was. Reina took a deep breath. “Yes, there is, Your Majesty.”

“And who is that?”

Reina looked at Empress Mikoto squarely in the eyes. “I am, Your Majesty.”

Takumi whipped his head to stare at Reina wide-eyed as she confronted Empress Mikoto. In all honesty, had they not been called to the capital, Kasumi would’ve likely adopted Takumi, and Reina was perfectly fine with this. However, Kasumi’s position as a commoner would’ve held no bearing whatsoever against a royal. At first, Reina was planning to use her identity as a former noble to at least hold a chance, but this was very unlikely now that she knew who her opponent was. Still, she had to try.

Empress Mikoto carefully looked over Reina. “I see,” she said, suddenly smiling happily. “I am glad that you have taken such considerations to ensure his safety and wellbeing. No doubt he will be happier with someone he is familiar with.”

Reina blinked. What? Was that it? No argument at all? As she continued to feel dumbfounded towards the sudden turn of events, Mikoto continued speaking. “Well, I believe that is all. Once again, thank you for taking the time to come here, Reina and Takumi. It is getting rather late, so I had the servants prepare a room for the both of you.”

Empress Mikoto rose from her seat. “It was wonderful meeting you two, but now I must take my leave. Until next time.”

It was a while after Empress Mikoto had left the room that Reina finally rose from her position on the ground, staring somewhat dazedly at the door. 

What exactly just happened?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Has anyone figured out I can't write for crap? Also Takumi doesn't speak at all in this chapter (well not during the important part). I'll make sure he gets some more screen time in future chapters.


	7. Chapter 6.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this "chapter" basically shows how Mikoto really is.  
> She's not a bad person I swear! (or whatever impression you got of her the last chapter)  
> She's just not very good dealing with people who are so obviously distrustful of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, thanks soooo much for the kudos, guys! It's really nice knowing that some people out there appreciate this work of mine. :')

Mikoto sighed as she collapsed into Sumeragi’s arms. “Are you all right?” Sumeragi asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“I’m fine,” Mikoto replied as she embraced him back. “I just need a moment. Give me a moment, please.”

“Did the meeting go badly?” Sumeragi frowned. “Did they harass you? Do I need to have a talk with them?”

“No, no, nothing like that happened,” Mikoto sighed again, situating herself so that she was now leaning against him. “They were just...very wary of me, is all. It made talking with them quite difficult.”

“...The rumors, huh. I see they’re still floating around,” Sumeragi grimaced as he gently stroked her back.

“It can’t be helped.. I haven’t exactly given any details about my past. I’m not surprised everyone treats me with such suspicion,” Mikoto said, smiling self- depreciatively .

“Don’t say that, Mikoto! You’ve done so much for Hoshido, and for me. I know that you are a great woman (and wife), and no one should be allowed to say otherwise,” Sumeragi said fiercely.

Mikoto’s smile smoothed out as she kissed Sumeragi in gratitude. “Thank you, dear. I just hope I’ll be able to have a proper conversation with them soon, instead of that disaster earlier.”

“I’m sure you will, dear. Now let’s get you to bed. It’s an early day tomorrow, and I’ve heard far too often how women need their beauty sleep.”

Mikoto gave a hum of agreement as the two settled themselves onto the bed.

“Dear?” Mikoto called out.

“Yes?” 

“I love you.” 

“Hng...I love you, too.”


	8. Chapter 6.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reina and Takumi learn they have to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I couldn't figure out where to put this in the next chapter, so I made it a mini-chapter.  
> Hope that's fine.
> 
> Thanks to taroham for being a wonderful beta as always, and thanks to you all for all the kudos!!! <3

Takumi wasn’t too sure what to think of the whole encounter. The lady who had entered the room was very pretty, and seemed incredibly nice. He didn’t feel any sense of danger from her. However, miss Reina was obviously very suspicious of her. Since she was an adult and was probably more aware of things than he was, he stayed away from the pretty lady and was next to Reina the entire time. In the end, though, nothing happened, so maybe Reina was just being overly careful?

Whatever the case, Takumi just wanted to go home. The capital was amazing. Really, it was. But the village was still recovering, and he was worried about his family (certainly, they weren’t blood-related, but everyone in the village was basically family). If he was to visit the capital, he wanted to at least have Auntie Kasumi and Hinata along as well. And be told at least a few days in advance. So he had hoped that after all this nonsense, they would be allowed to quickly pack up and leave the next day.

But now, there was this.

“What?” Reina blinked, staring bewilderedly at the servant standing at their door. “I’m sorry, but could you repeat that?”

“Very well,” the servant said. “Emperor Sumeragi has deemed your squad too small to continue regular operations and has split it amongst several other squads. You have been assigned to the outer palace guards, and are to meet with Captain Satoshi immediately.”

“I...I see,” Reina replied somewhat dazedly. “Thank you. You may leave now.”

As the servant left, Reina stood there for a while before looking guiltily at Takumi. “Takumi, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we’re going back to the village today.”

“Eeehhh,” Takumi whined. He pouted to himself. Who the heck was this Emperor person to tell them what to do? Wait a minute...Emperor...Empress...hmm.

“Is it that lady’s fault?” Takumi asked. Reina’s silence said everything.

Takumi grumbled to himself. Miss Reina was right to be suspicious. That pretty lady was no good.


	9. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi meets some other kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my lord, there's so many cliches going on here. What am I doing.

The day Reina was given her orders, she had met up with her new captain and received her new orders, as well as a room in the barracks (somewhat larger than others in order to accomodate Takumi, but still rather small), and they had spent the rest of the morning decorating it with Reina’s belongings (and later some items that Kasumi had sent over). After sending off a letter explaining the details to Hinata and Kasumi, Reina worried over how to perform her tasks while taking care of Takumi at the same time, until Takumi exasperatedly pointed out that her patrol shifts were only a few hours early morning and a few late afternoon, and he would probably sleep through the former time while he was perfectly capable of busying himself for the latter time. It took a lot more convincing and many promises that he wouldn’t explore dangerous areas or go off with strangers before Reina reluctantly agreed to his suggestions (seriously, he wasn’t  _ stupid _ ).

It’s been several days since then. Takumi had kept his word, sticking to the main roads when exploring the city and staying away from suspicious looking strangers who seemed a bit too interested him (he blamed his hair color, with all those stories about blessed children). He hadn’t made any new friends yet, but he had gotten acquainted with the aunties and uncles at the food stalls; more often than not they would give him free samples, which he gladly took. The soldiers tended to fawn over him whenever they had free time, and had to be fought off by Reina when she was around. All in all, he felt that he was adapting quite well to his new surroundings (although he did wish Hinata was around to keep him company; he supposed the frequent letters would have to do). 

Today, Takumi had woken up a bit earlier than usual, during the time Reina was out for her morning patrol. He didn’t have the energy to go into the city just yet and so decided to explore a bit of the palace after eating breakfast. He’d already done a bit of adventuring, but only around the outer palace walls. He wasn’t too sure how much he was allowed to look around, so didn’t venture too deeply. But he was really curious about a garden that he had seen on one of his excursions, and he was sure it’d be fine so long as he didn’t touch anything. He carefreely waved at the guard patrols along the way. Once he reached the border of the garden, he made sure no one was watching before delving right in. The inside of the garden was like a maze, and there were all sorts of flora that Takumi had never seen before. He stopped to examine some tall flowers, their petals purple with a hint of yellow on the inside. While admiring it, he started hearing some muffled footsteps and chattering off to the side. He quickly looked for a hiding place, deciding to conceal himself behind a large flower bush. 

“--- this way! They just bloomed yesterday!”

“S-sister, slow down, Sakura can’t keep up!”

“Uuugh, I know, but I really wanna show her!”

Three sets of small footsteps pattered by Takumi’s hiding spot, stopping a bit further away. “Here, look! They’re so pretty, aren’t they?”

“Y-yeah, they are…”

Takumi peeked out from behind the bush, and realized that the three children who had passed by were looking at the flowers he had first noticed when he’d entered the garden. All of them were girls, and from the sounds of it were likely related to each other as well. The oldest-looking one had silver hair and was excitedly bouncing around, exclaiming how well grown the flowers were. The second oldest, a cherry-haired one, was trying to calm the older one down so she wouldn’t step on any of the plants. The youngest, having pink hair, was silently admiring the recently bloomed flowers, calmly ignoring the other two’s antics.

Takumi had never seen any of them around before, so he assumed that they either didn’t come here too often or came when he wasn’t around. Were they nobles? It’d make sense, considering where they were. Takumi highly doubted that there were many other children with circumstances similar to his. Takumi knew that his manners definitely did not live up to noble standards, so he attempted to sneakily crawl away. Unfortunately for him, it was a nice day, with the sun shining brightly and not a cloud in sight. Several rays glanced off his silver hair, catching the attention of the silver-haired girl  (Takumi swore that he would find a way to change his hair color some day). She immediately looked over, and the two silver-haired ones locked eyes.

“Who are you!?” she yelled out. The other two were shocked by her shout and quickly noticed the stranger in the vicinity as well.

“O-oh, uh, I’m-”

“Oh hey, you’re a blessed child!” The older one exclaimed suddenly, very much invading his personal space as she seemed to almost teleport over to check out his hair and eye color. A part of Takumi realized that this girl, despite having the hair color for it, was very much not a blessed child as she had red eyes, but a larger part of him was more surprised by her sudden closeness and reflexively pushed her away. The girl was apparently very nimble though, as she managed to dodge him with only a “Rude!” thrown his way. In hindsight, he supposed this was better than the possibility of her actually falling over and getting hurt, but right now she was being very annoying, and so he stepped back a bit himself to get some distance from her.

“I’ve never seen you around here before. Who’re your parents? The Takeuchis? The Akihitos? Oh, is it the Shimizuharas? They have a lot of blessed children!” the older girl yammered.

“I-what? No, I don’t who any of those are,” Takumi flusteredly replied.

“Heeeeh...who else then? Maybe the-”

“Um, sister, I think you’re scaring him,” the cherry-haired one spoke up. Takumi gave her a grateful look as the older girl looked away from him. “You haven’t even introduced yourself, you know. That’s bad manners.”

“Oh, you’re right! Sorry, sorry. I’m Corrin. That’s Hinoka, and that’s Sakura,” she said, pointing to the cherry-haired one and the pink-haired one respectively. “Who are you?”

“I’m Takumi. It’s, uh, nice to meet you.” Maybe. He wasn’t really sure yet.

“Ta-ku-mi…” Corrin repeated back, as if trying out his name. “Hmmmm, I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before…Oh! You’re the soldier kid!”

“Huh?” What kind of nickname was that?

“Yeah, a lot of the guards have been talking about you! The mysterious blessed child that popped up one day with his beautiful young mom, according to the guys anyway. The boy who lives in the barracks with his mom, and is super obedient and cute and fluffy and soooo many other adjectives. Heeeeh, and just when I was thinking about visiting you too! This must be fate or something!” Corrin said excitedly, clasping their hands together.

“T-that’s nice…” 

“Sister, you’re doing it again,” Hinoka pointed out.

“Ah,” Corrin stepped back. “Sorry, I kinda forget about my manners when I get excited. So where are you from? Gifu? Aomori?”

“Uhhhh….” Takumi had never heard of them. He really was a country bumpkin, wasn’t he?

“Um…” a small voice hesitantly spoke up. “W-Would you like to look at the f-flowers with us?”

Takumi blinked in surprise, a little bit stunned from the sudden change in topic, as he looked at Sakura, who was hiding behind Hinoka when she asked her question. “That’s why you’re here, right? To look at the flowers? It’s a lot more fun when you’re looking with other people.”

“Uhh, I...sure,” Takumi lamely replied.

Sakura brightened a bit. “R-Really?” She walked over and gently grabbed his hand, tugging him towards the flowers they were admiring earlier. “Um, these flowers are called Hanashobu. Mother s-saw them when she was v-visiting Izumo and brought some s-seeds back to plant them.”

“And I took care of them!” Corrin jumped in, smiling brightly. “Look at how well they grew!”

“Yeah, they uh, they grew really well.” What exactly were you supposed to say in this situation anyway?

“Aren’t I amazing? After helping mom out with some sweet peas, I really wanted to try taking care of one on my own. It was really hard, you know? You have to-”

“---ura! Pri----Sakura, where are you?”

Takumi blinked and looked in the direction of the voice. It sounded as if someone was looking for Sakura. A servant, perhaps?

“Shoot,” Corrin frowned. “Guess they found out already. Ugh, I thought we would’ve had some more time…”

Takumi fidgeted. He wasn’t completely sure if it was okay for him to be there, so he’d rather not get caught by whoever was searching for these nobles, in case they reported him to some higher authority. “Uh, I have to go…”

“Eh? But I wanted to talk more!” Corrin complained. “Ah, but I guess it’d be bad if you got caught, too...then let’s meet here tomorrow! I still have lots of questions to ask you, so you’d better come!”

“Uh, sure…” Takumi replied.

“Great! Now shoo! We’ll make sure they don’t notice you,” Corrin said, waving him away with both hands.

“Okay, thanks!” Takumi replied in gratitude. As he hurried home, he could hear exclamations behind him as the servants found the three girls and the beginnings of a major scolding. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I based Hinoka's personality off those little tidbits we get in Fates about how shy she was when she was young. The problem is that this makes her really similar to Sakura, so I'll try my best making them separate people.  
> As for Corrin, I just wanted her to be that easily excitable kid. She'll mellow out as she gets older, don't worry.  
> And Sakura's just Sakura. I guess.


	10. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but oh well.  
> Time skips are surprisingly difficult to write (or maybe I'm just approaching them incorrectly).
> 
> Also, I suppose I finally have some approximate dates on when everything happened. Since Hinoka's birthday is coming up, and the attack took place around a month ago, this story officially started mid-June. I guess.

The next day, Takumi checked to make sure that Reina was out patrolling before sneaking back into the garden. Corrin had never mentioned a specific time to be there, so he arrived around the same time as yesterday. As he neared the area they had met, he easily spotted two figures, one silver-haired and the other cherry-haired. The two noticed him the same time he did. “Heeeyyyy!” Corrin yelled as she dashed towards him.

Takumi only had a second to react before he was bowled over by Corrin. Luckily, he was quite experienced with tackles (thank you, Hinata), and made sure to protect his head from hitting the ground. “Nice to see you too, I guess,” Takumi huffed, pushing her off him.

“Sister!” Hinoka scolded as she caught up to Corrin. “You can’t just tackle a blessed child like that!”

Corrin rolled her eyes as she sat up. “It’s fiiine. I mean, look at him. He doesn’t look sick or weak at all!”

“Well...that’s true, but-but you still can’t do something like that! He’s a boy!”

Takumi sat up as well, dusting off his clothes and checking for any injuries. Thinking about what Hinoka said, Takumi recalled the fact that he was a bit of an oddity when it came to blessed children. He had often heard that blessed children his age were frail and delicate, rarely going out of the house due to catching illnesses so easily. He never had an issue with that though, so he always assumed that it was because he wasn’t as “blessed” as the others. “Where’s Sakura?” he asked, looking around. There was no sight of the pink-haired girl, and he was worried that something had happened to her.

“Hmm? Oh, she got sick,” Corrin replied unhappily.

“Eh?” 

“Sakura gets sick easily, just like a blessed child,” Hinoka explained. “Well, she isn’t actually one, as you’ve seen. Anyway, she’s not allowed outside all that often, and there’s always some servants around when she does.”

“Then why was she here yesterday?” Takumi asked.

“We snuck her out!” Corrin smugly proclaimed.

...Takumi felt that Sakura was kind of pitiful to have such an older sister. Hinoka seemed to have similar sentiments, as she only sighed heavily. “Anyway, since we got found out yesterday, we’re not allowed to go anywhere without someone watching us.”

Takumi blinked and looked around. “There’s no one here, though?”

Corrin hmphed and turned towards an inconspicuous flower patch. “Kagero, come out!”

Silence. Corrin pouted and walked up towards the flowers. “Kageroooooo!”

There was a pause before a faint sigh was heard. A figure materialized out of nowhere, causing Takumi to jump to his feet in surprise. A person appeared in front of everyone, looking exactly like what Takumi would think a ninja would look like, if the ninja was a young girl around the age of 10. 

“Takumi, this is Kagero. Kagero, Takumi,” Corrin muttered, before looking away petulantly. It was pretty obvious to Takumi that Corrin didn’t like having a watchful eye over her, as she not-so-subtly glared at Kagero, who (to her credit) was ignoring it with great success.

“Greetings, Takumi,” Kagero obediently said, bowing formally at Takumi.

Takumi hastily returned her bow. “N-Nice to meet you too, Kagero.”

Rising from her bow, Kagero glanced at Corrin. “Behave,” she warned before vanishing.

Corrin stuck out her tongue at the empty air. “I know, I know, I won’t do anything stupid. Sheesh!” she muttered before turning towards Takumi, a glint appearing in her eyes as she smiled devilishly.

“So! Where are you from?”

 

\------

 

Takumi felt that Corrin would have interrogated him for the rest of the day were it not for the fact that he had to get back before Reina did (he could only imagine what would happen if she was to realize he was absent). Corrin had managed to obtain all sorts of information about himself, Reina, his home village, etc. It was with great relief that he finally managed to get away from them, although not without having to promise yet again that he would meet them again the next day. 

And so this pattern continued. Each day they would meet in the morning and play around for a couple of hours. The first couple of days was merely Corrin continuously harassing Takumi (though Hinoka did try to hold her back from being too persistent) about his life before coming here and all sorts of other details. After Corrin finally sated her curiosity, they tended to either play games or explore the garden in more detail. Sometimes Sakura was there, sometimes she wasn’t (It wasn’t really her fault that she had such bad health).

There was one time an older boy called Ryoma came by. Takumi had been rather surprised then. For one, he wasn’t really expecting anyone other than the three girls (although in hindsight he realized it was perfectly normal for there to be other children around). For another, he was quite sure Ryoma had purposely snuck up behind him before announcing his presence and scaring Takumi’s soul halfway out his body. 

Needless to say, he was rather upset for a while after that, though it lessened the more he got to know the older boy (he was very charismatic, and it was hard to stay mad at him). That was also the time he learned that all four of the children were siblings. It made him very curious as to what their parents looked like to have children looking so different from each other. Takumi had told Reina about the four children later on, and while she scolded him for trespassing, he was pretty sure she was secretly happy that he had made new friends, and so never stopped him from going.

(Reina later admitted to herself that she was also slightly worried for Takumi, as only a certain couple had children with those names. But their children couldn’t be all that bad, could they?)

 

\------------

 

As the days grew warmer, the girls seemed to get more uneasy about something. The palace seemed to simultaneously become more busy, as the guards received more patrol hours, and the servants bustled along the hallways. It only took a little asking around to figure out what was up.

“Soooo, apparently you’re all princesses?” Takumi not so casually brought up the next day.

Corrin and Hinoka stiffened. “W-why would you ask that?” Corrin replied, her voice slightly high-pitched.

“Well, the High Princess’ birthday is coming up soon, and her name is Hinoka, and she has three siblings who all have the same name as you guys. It’s not that hard to put two and two together,” Takumi explained, looking off to the side uneasily. 

Knowing that they were way above him in terms of society made it a bit difficult to act normally around them. He already knew that they were nobles of some sort, but that was fine. Reina was a noble, and she was fine. But these were princesses. Princesses, who were waaay more up there than nobles. He was sure that there was some law out there that executed people who talked un-nobly to princesses. Or looked at them funny. Or looked at them at all, really.

Hinoka wilted. “I’m sorry Takumi, we were...we weren’t planning on hiding it for so long. It’s just that everyone we meet always acts very...fake.”

“All the adults try to butter us up and are super boring,”Corrin chimed in. “All the kids try to flatter us and get close to us and are just so irritating. You act like yourself though, and treat us like normal people, so it’s really fun around you. Though I guess it won’t be like that anymore…”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, you found out about us,” Corrin muttered.

“And...?”

“You’re going to act different now,” Hinoka mumbled sadly.

“I-well, um...I don’t have to?”

Corrin looked at him confusedly. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you guys are princesses, so obviously I’m supposed to, I dunno, be nicer to you? Act all nobly and proper and all that. But, apparently you guys don’t like that? So, I can still act like myself around you. If that’s okay. I just- need to wrap my head around the fact I’m talking to royalty. Have been for a while now. Actually, it’s probably better if I don’t think about it. Might be easier that way,” Takumi rambled, fidgeting in his seat as he refused to make eye contact with the girls.

The two girls stared at him, then at each other. There was an awkward silence in the air for a while. “Well, that...would be nice,” Hinoka replied hesitantly. 

“I...yeah,” Takumi mumbled.

Another pause. Corrin cleared her throat. “Um...well, now that you know, I guess we should introduce ourselves properly. I’m Corrin Mikado, Second Princess of Hoshido.”

“I’m Hinoka Mikado, High Princess of Hoshido,” Hinoka said.

“And they’re not here right now, but big brother is Ryoma Mikado, High Prince of Hoshido, and Sakura is Sakura Mikado, Third Princess of Hoshido,” Corrin continued. 

“Then, I’m Takumi, uhhh….village boy from the Hoshidan Plains…?” Takumi tried. 

Corrin tried very hard to hold back her laugh. She did very poorly. “Hehe, It’s nice to meet you, Takumi, village boy from the Hoshidan Plains,” she teased, holding out her hand. “Let’s be good friends!”

Takumi smiled. “Yeah,” he said, grasping her hand and shaking it.

 

(Immediately after, Corrin tackled them all into one messy pile of hugs, and it was a good time).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mikado literally (according to my beta) means "Emperor".  
> We are very creative.
> 
> Also, while I will be having the retainers appear here and there, I'm not focusing on them too much. This story is more about the royals (and Reina), and probably a few select other characters. I'll figure it out as I go.
> 
> Btw, none of the children know this but there are a lot more ninjas watching them than just Kagero (who are a lot better at hiding, too). It'd be bad security if it was just her.


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tension between Mikoto and Reina is addressed, because everyone must be friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is my longest chapter yet. : 0  
> 

It still took a while for things to get back to normal. Speaking to them was fine now, but Takumi was still reeling a bit from the fact that he was and had been for a while now, talking to royalty (which in hindsight was super obvious, cause they were children that lived in the  _ palace _ , of course they were royalty). He had told miss Reina about their identities later that day, and she confessed that she already sort of knew about it. She didn’t believe that they were dangerous to him, though, and so waited for them to tell Takumi themselves. In the end, he supposed it was good that things turned out as well as they did.

Hinoka’s birthday soon arrived, and while Takumi wasn’t allowed to attend, he and Reina were able to browse some of the festivities held in the city when Reina wasn’t on patrol. The city was absolutely bustling that day (and the next several as well) and the two had a great deal of fun exploring the stalls and snacking on street food. He spent a great deal of time choosing a birthday present that Hinoka would enjoy, and brought the gift with him a few days after her birthday, when things started to calm down and Hinoka could sneak away for a couple of hours.

“A brush?” Hinoka wondered as she examined it in her hands. It was a rather simple one, the same type Reina used for her own pegasus.

“A pegasus brush,” Takumi clarified. “You mentioned wanting a pegasus some day a couple of times. And if you want a pegasi, you need to take care of it. Um, I don’t have enough money to buy everything you need, so I got what I could. Do you like it?”

Hinoka smiled widely. “I love it! Thanks so much, Takumi!”

“Yeesh, compared to yours, the other presents we got were nothing! It’s better than all the other nobles’ combined,” Corrin commented.

“What kind of presents did they bring?” Takumi asked.

“Jewelry, dolls, boring stuff like that,” Corrin sniffed. “They don’t know Hinoka at all, so they probably just brought whatever a typical noble girl would want. Though the dolls were okay, I guess, since Sakura likes them.”

“How is Sakura anyway? Did she go to your party?”

Hinoka shook her head. “Sakura doesn’t do too well with large crowds. Being around so many people excites her too much and causes her to fall sick, so Mother and Father keeps her away from events like this.”

“We do have little parties with her every now and then,” Corrin said. “Little tea parties with the entire- ooooh, Takumi, you should come to one of them!”

“Uh, what?”

“Dad’s been really curious about who we’ve been playing with for a while now, so this is the perfect time!” Corrin said happily. “We’ve been keeping him away since we didn’t want to scare you away since people always change their attitude towards us after meeting him, but you already know who he is and haven’t changed at all, so it’ll be fine!”

Now that Takumi thought about it, If Corrin and the others were royalty, then their parents must be the Emperor and Empress of Hoshido. He’d been so busy coping with the identities of the siblings that he completely forgot about their parents.

Wait.

Empress?

“Is...Is your mom Empress Mikoto?” Takumi asked hesitantly.

“Well, yeah. There’s only one Empress, you know,” Corrin answered.

“...Huh. Is she gonna be there too? At the party?”

“Yes. It’s a family party, after all,” Hinoka replied. “Ah, if you’re worried about not being family, it’s okay. The retainers attend too, sometimes.”

“I see,” Takumi replied, frowning slightly. 

He hadn’t really considered that yet, but it was apparently fine, so whatever. The problem was Empress Mikoto. He didn’t really like her. But at the same time, he couldn’t exactly refuse, since the Emperor was apparently interested in him. He’d probably be executed if he didn’t go. Then again, he wasn’t killed when he talked casually with the princesses, so maybe it was okay? Either way, it’d had been some time since he last saw Sakura and Ryoma. 

Takumi weighed the pros and cons of going for a while before finally assenting. “Okay, I’ll go.”

_ I’ll just ignore Empress Mikoto the whole time _ , Takumi thought to himself as Corrin danced happily around him.

 

\-------

 

It was a bit hard ignoring Empress Mikoto the whole time when she decides to  _ sit right across from you  _ at the table. Just a bit.

Luckily, Takumi didn’t have to deal with her at the moment, since he was currently engaged with the Emperor seated next to the Empress. Well, if you could call Takumi trying not to keel over from the Emperor’s consistent glaring as “engaged.”

He really should have thought more about this.

“Father, could you perhaps ease up on the pressure?” Ryoma asked, his lips twitching as he tried to hold back a smile. “Takumi looks like a frightened lamb from over here.” 

“Please don’t scare Takumi, Father,” Hinoka followed up as she poured the tea into small cups.

“My daughters have a new friend. A boy, at that! This kind of pressure should be nothing for him,” The Emperor (Sumeragi, as Takumi learned earlier), replied, finally looking away from Takumi as he glanced petulantly at Hinoka, who sighed as she continued pouring the tea.

“P-Please ignore Father’s antics, Takumi,” Sakura spoke softly as she handed him his cup. “It’s nice to s-see you again, by the way. It’s been a while since we last met. I hope Corrin hasn’t troubled you t-too much?”

“Hey!”

“She’s been...well, she hasn’t done anything  _ too  _ crazy,” Takumi said, valiantly ignoring the two adults in the room as he turned towards Sakura. “How about you? You haven’t been sick too often, hopefully?”

“Only a couple times, and all pretty mild,” Sakura replied, smiling gently as she handed the cups to the rest of the party members.

“Wait, Sakura has met Takumi as well?” The Emperor frowned. “Why did I not know of this?”

Ryoma fought hard to hold back his laughter. “I’ve met him too, you know.”

The Emperor whipped his head towards Ryoma, looking at him as if he’d just betrayed him. “You too!? Has everyone but me met him?” He wilted, looking very upset about the matter.

Takumi stared at the Emperor in amazement. He had been expecting the Emperor to, you know, be all royal and regal, having flawless manners and using fancy words in his sentences. But the man in front of him acted very normal. He could very easily see that he was just your average father (though a bit dramatic). He seemed to be just like his children in that he didn’t care too much about formalities. Takumi suddenly felt much more comfortable around him.

By this time,  Sakura had already finished laying out everyone's tea. Meanwhile, Corrin seemed to notice something in Sumeragi’s words. “Everyone but you?” She looked at the Empress. “Mother, you’ve met him too, then?”

The Empress (who had been ignored the entire time thus far), turned to smile gently at Corrin. “Indeed. It was a month or so before you had met him. Isn’t that right, Takumi?” she replied, looking down at Takumi.

Takumi frowned, very purposely looking away from her as he sipped his tea. Everyone was surprised by his response, staring at him in confusion as the atmosphere turned awkward. The Empress’ smile wavered a bit before returning as she looked back at Corrin. “It was when I met with a soldier a month ago, soon after the incident near the border. The soldier had brought Takumi along then, and that is when we met.”

“You  _ ordered _ her to bring me,” Takumi lashed out. Welp, there went his plan of not talking to her.

The Empress’ smile waned as she glanced away, looking very uncomfortable. “Ah, well...I did ask for you, but it was a request, not an order. I would not have forced you to come if you did not want to.”

“If the  _ Empress _ is requesting you to come, then you have to come. It’d be very stupid not to,” Takumi pointed out.

The Empress looked even more uncomfortable, if that was even possible. She turned towards Sumeragi, sending him a silent plea for help. He nodded slightly at her, then cleared his throat, directing all attention to him.

Sumeragi looked thoughtfully at Takumi for a moment, before asking, “I assume you’ve heard of the rumors, then?”

Takumi turned to stare blankly at him. “Rumors?”

Sumeragi returned his look with a confused one. “The...rumors about my wife?”

Now that Takumi thought about it, he did recall hearing something about the Empress when near the servants. He had treated them the same as the village gossips in that they were completely baseless though, and so completely tuned them out. “I’ve heard a little, but I didn’t really pay attention. Are they true?” Takumi asked.

“Wha-no! Of course not! My wife is nothing like what the rumors portray her as,” Sumeragi proclaimed, flustered. “Anyway, if you don’t believe in the rumors, why do you dislike my wife so much?”

“She was mean to miss Reina.”

...Ah.

Everyone turned their eyes to Empress Mikoto. She hid her face in her hands. 

Sumeragi sighed. “I’ll admit, my wife did not handle the situation very well. But please know that her intentions were good.”

Takumi frowned. “I don’t care about her intentions. She was mean to miss Reina.”

“I...I see,” Sumeragi said.  _ That’s it? _

“I apologize for my manners during that meeting, Takumi,” Empress Mikoto said. “ I allowed my duties as an empress to get in the way of being open with you and Ms. Reina, and for that you have every right to be wary. May you please forgive me?

Takumi simply hmphed and looked away. Empress Mikoto fidgeted, unsure of what to do next. “Mother’s really nice though, Takumi!” Corrin chimed. “I swear!”

“I agree with Corrin,” Ryoma said. “Some sort of misunderstanding must have happened, Takumi. Mother would not do something cruel or anything of the sort on purpose.”

“Um, I think your mom must have listened to the rumors Father was talking about,” Hinoka said. “And that’s where she got her idea of Mother. I’m sure if we cleared it up with her, everything will be fine.”

As the other children continued to rally around their mother, Takumi only seemed to get more upset and withdrawn. “U-Um,” Sakura softly spoke up, quieting everyone. “Even if it was because of a misunders-standing, Mother was still rude to Takumi’s mother, r-right? In that case, Mother s-should apologize to her. Because that’s good manners.”

“I...well, that’s true…” Corrin relented.

Sakura turned towards Takumi. “Can we meet with your mother, Takumi? I’d like for Mother to apologize to her.”

Takumi melted under Sakura’s gaze and nodded in agreement. Corrin slammed her palms on the table and swiftly stood up, shouting “Then let’s go right now!” and rushed out the door.

 

\-----

 

Reina was feeling very perturbed right now.

Just a moment ago, a young child with silver hair and red eyes barged into the commons and had dragged her off to one of the inner palace rooms ( _ wow _ , this child was strong), claiming that there some people who wanted to see her.

In said room was the Hoshidan Emperor and Empress and their children, along with an upset-looking Takumi (apparently they were having a tea party? She could see unfinished cups of tea scattered around on the table). And while Reina would normally fainted over the fact that she was in the presence of the  _ Hoshidan Emperor and Empress _ , Takumi was upset, and that was enough to distract her from her near heart attack.

After quickly grabbing Takumi and making sure he was fine, Reina turned to address the other people in the room. “It is an honor to be in your presence, Your highness,” Reina said, bowing deferentially.

The Empress quickly grabbed Reina and raised her up to her feet. “There is no need for formalities, Reina. Please, have a seat. Everyone here is an equal.”

Reina glanced warily at the Empress before hesitantly sitting down at the table. The Emperor called for the servants to take the children away (Takumi reluctantly peeled himself off of Reina) while he and the Empress at down as well.

“I would like to apologize for my behavior during our last meeting, Reina,” the Empress said, bowing her head. “I realize that I made you feel very uncomfortable in my presence, and I am very sorry that I had to do so.”

Reina took a moment to comprehend her words. “I...I see.”

Empress Mikoto smiled wearily at her. “Please, speak your true thoughts here. I promise you will come to no harm because of it.”

Reina hesitated, then warily asked, “You had to? Why?”

“I had a goal, and I had believed it was the best way to achieve it.”

“...You wanted to keep us here.”

“That was part of it, yes.”

“What was the other part, if I may ask?”

Mikoto looked off to the side, looking a little sheepish. “Ah...I wanted to, um, ensure that you became Takumi’s mother.”

Reina stared blankly at her. “...Why?”

“I am...not sure either, to be honest,” Empress Mikoto admitted. “I simply knew that I had to.”

“Mikoto is a diviner,” Sumeragi stated bluntly. “And a powerful one, at that. We’ve kept her ability under wraps thus far, as it is on par with Izumo’s diviner, but at this point I believe you should know. With her power, Mikoto has helped us deal with several precarious situations. If she believes that you being Takumi’s mother is of importance, then it must be so, though the method she used to make sure it was so was rather lacking. I hope you can find it in yourself to look past it.”

“Once again, I apologize,” Empress Mikoto bowed her head again.

Reina wasn’t really sure what to say to all this. She supposed being a diviner wasn’t too far-fetched, but to be one on par with Izumo’s? They communed with the gods, for goodness sake. What kind of power does Empress Mikoto have to compare with theirs? Reina set the thought aside for later contemplation.

Reina cleared her throat. “I accept your apology, Empress Mikoto.”

Empress Mikoto perked up. “Then we can be friends now?”

Reina hesitated. “I’m not sure about friends...acquaintances, at best. The most I know about you is from the rumors, and from what His Highness has said, those are all false.”

“Oh...I see,” Mikoto said sadly. “I would like to be friends, though.”

“Is it because you wish to be close to Takumi?” Reina asked. “Or is it something because of something you have seen in the future?”

“Nothing of the sort,” Mikoto said sincerely. “I only wish to get to know you better.”

As Reina thought about how to respond to that, the doors slammed open and that strong armed girl from earlier barged in, yelling, “Then you should join our tea parties too! Everyone’s there, so you can get to know all of us!”

“Corrin! You can’t just come in like that!” Mikoto scolded. “You need to knock first at least.”

“Come ooooon, it’s a great idea! This way, Reina gets to meet with everyone, and she gets to spend time with Takumi, too!”

Reina honestly just wanted to avoid any and all royalty after today. To meet all of them at the same time again, multiple times in the future? Dear gods. She needed at least a day off just to recover from this one. “What do you think, Takumi?” she asked, looking at him. 

Takumi thought it was a great idea. Reina would be a great shield for him against the adults, and he could make sure she didn’t get overwhelmed by the other children. He’ll tell her his idea later. “I like it.”

“I suppose I could…” Reina reluctantly obliged.

“So does this mean you don’t hate Mother anymore, Reina?” Corrin asked.

“I...I suppose?” Reina said. She never considered her emotions towards the Empress to be hatred. Just extreme suspicion and wariness.

“Takumi!” Corrin whipped her head towards his direction. “Mother apologized, and your mom doesn’t hate Mother anymore! It’s fine now, right?”

“I guess,” was all Takumi got out before Corrin tackled him in glee, Hinoka trailing after to stop her sister from accidentally choking him.

As Takumi’s irritated shouts and the laughter of the other children resounded throughout the room, Reina sighed and resigned herself to a future filled with Hoshidan royals.

She hoped her heart could last another decade or two before giving out from all the stress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They continued the party after this and added a cup for Reina.
> 
> Also I swear, Corrin is the only child here that actually acts like a child. Everyone else has wisdom beyond their years or something.


	12. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takumi goes back to the village to visit old friends. Stuff happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a small time skip here. Probably a month or so. I don’t know, I don’t plan chapters ahead of time, they just kind of happen.
> 
> Also, warning for mild gore.   
> Also also, warning for lots of scene transitions. I apologize for any whiplash.

“You’re leaving!?” Corrin yelled in shock. Sakura flinched, dropping her flower crown-in-progress.

“Only for a week or two,” Takumi grumbled as he massaged his poor ears.

“But whyyyyyyyy.”

“I just told you,” Takumi said in an exasperated tone. “Reina’s going on some training mission with some of the other guards, and she figured it was as good a time as any for me to visit everyone back home.”

“I wanna come, too!” Corrin whined.

“Sure? You’ll have to ask your parents if you can come.”

“It’ll be fiiine!”

“I don’t think they’ll let you go, S-Sister,” Sakura brought up. “You’re not doing too well in history c-class, remember? And literature, and math. So you have a l-lot of make-up sessions for the next few days. I don’t think they’ll let you go out during that time.”

Corrin flopped onto the ground. “Ugghhhh. It’s not my fault those classes are so boring! You have it so easy, Takumi. You don’t have to do any of these classes! Can we switch places?”

“No thank you. Though it’d be nice if I could read the books. Or at all, I guess.”

“...You can’t read?”

“I can! A little bit. Miss Reina taught me. But I’m not very good at it,” Takumi admitted.

“Would you like to b-borrow my books then?” Sakura suggested. “They’re beginner books, so I think they’d be a good start for you. You can r-read them on the way home.”

Takumi smiled at her. “Really? Thanks a bunch, Sakura! That’s really nice of you.”

“Y-You’re welcome,” Sakura smiled shyly back. “When are you l-leaving?”

“Tomorrow.”

“I see. Well, I hope you have a fun time!”

“Thanks!”

“I wanna go too…” Corrin mumbled into the ground.

 

\-----

 

“Taaaaaakkkuuuuuummiiiiiiii!!!!!” yelled Hinata as he catapulted himself at said child.

Takumi, who had gained several months of experience with Corrin, easily evaded Hinata, who crashed into the pegasus behind Takumi. As the pegasus whinnied in anger, Hinata shot right back up to his feet and grabbed Takumi by the shoulders. “Takumi! Are you okay? You weren’t kidnapped or anything right? Mom said nobles kidnap blessed children all the time. You’re okay, right!?!?”

“I’m perfectly fine, Hinata,” Takumi replied as he shoved at Hinata to get some of his personal space back. “No one tried to kidnap me.”

“You’re sure? Mom said Reina said in her letter that the mean Empress lady was after you!”

“That was a misunderstanding. She was trying to be friends, but was just going about it the wrong way.”

“Oh. Okay.” Hinata dropped his hands, relieved. Takumi rubbed his shoulders. “So how was the capital? Is the food good? Are there lots of people? I heard there are people that came from everywhere! And how was-”

“Alright, alright,” Kasumi interrupted Hinata, yanking him into her arms. “Stop pestering Takumi so much and help with the luggage. Sheesh, why is there so much? It’s like you brought everything in the city with you!”

“There’s too much stuff in the capital to do that,” Takumi replied. “But I did bring a lot of souvenirs back. Some of them are from miss Reina. I’m not too sure what they are. Oh, but I did get you this!” 

He grabbed a small package from the pile and handed it over to Kasumi. “It’s tea! I heard from a friend that it helps you relax, so I bought it for you.”

“My, thank you, dear! I’ll be sure to drink some this evening,” Kasumi cooed. 

Takumi evaded her bear hug, hopping back into the pile of luggage. “And I got this for you, Hinata!”

He pulled out a thin package, unwrapping it to reveal a wooden katana and tossed it over to Hinata. “Woooaaahhhhh!!!!” Hinata yelled, grabbing it midair. 

“It’s the katana my other friend trained with, so it’s a bit used. It’s really well made though, so I think-aaannnd you’re not listening,” Takumi said, amused as he watched Hinata swing it around wildly.

“TAKUMI I LOVE YOU,” proclaimed Hinata, swerving around to face Takumi. “Do you have one too?”

“Yep!” Takumi smirked as he yanked out a longer package and revealed a wooden naginata.

Hinata whooped. “Awesome! I challenge you, Takumi, to a duel!” he said menacingly, dropping into a rough stance.

Kasumi bonked him on the head with her fist. “I just said to help with the luggage! Goodness gracious, we’ve been standing around doing nothing for so long! Give me those sticks, you two can play with them later. Takumi, dear, where do these go?”

“Ah, those are for…”

 

\---

 

It was nice seeing how far the village had recovered while Takumi was away. The fields were almost completely restored, and everyone had a proper house to return to, even if some of them sheltered multiple families at the moment. Seeds had been planted for the next harvest, and the neighboring villages were kind enough to supply food to even out the shortage. Overall, everything was pretty much back to the way it was.

He wasn’t allowed to play in the forest anymore, though. Takumi understood why.

Instead, whenever they weren’t helping in the fields, he and Hinata went off exploring the roads. They stuck to the more public roads where other travelers showed up more often. Sometimes they’d strike up a conversation with some of them, listening to rich tales and fantasies, and before they knew it the day was already over. Sometimes they visited the neighboring villages, where they were granted baskets of vegetables (well, Takumi was, along with a great deal of petting and cooing). Today was apparently a slow day, though, as they hadn’t seen anyone yet despite walking for quite some time already. 

“Hmm?” Hinata stopped and sniffed the air. “Takumi, you smell that?”

“Smell what?” Takumi looked back at him. 

“That weird smell. It kinda reminds me of...um…”

Hinata’s eyes widened and he shot forward, running off into the distance with great haste. “Hey! What’s wro-oh jeez, fine!” Takumi muttered as he ran after him.

They ran a considerable distance before Hinata skidded to a halt, causing Takumi to collide against him as he failed to stop in time. “Ow,” Takumi grumbled, rubbing his nose. “What’s the big idea...oh.”

What lay ahead of the two children was...quite a scene. A scene Takumi definitely did not want to see right now. A scene that reminded him a bit too much about what happened only a few months ago. 

A man and woman were laying on the ground. Blood trickled slowly from single wounds in each of their necks, pooling around them, their clothes completely stained by the red liquid. A cart lay turned on its side further ahead, its products scattered about (Takumi subconsciously noted that the culprits didn’t take any of the expensive items). The bodies were much...cleaner compared to how his parents were back then, but it didn’t make the scene much prettier. In fact, it honestly made it much worse, since Takumi could clearly see their expressions on their faces. 

Takumi resisted the very strong urge to throw up on the spot. “We n-need to t-t-tell e-everyone,” he said aloud, more for himself than anything.

“I-y-yeah,” Hinata stuttered, frozen on the spot.

The two turned around (Takumi turned Hinata around. He wasn’t able to move himself quite yet), before Hinata suddenly exclaimed. “Wait. Did you hear that?”

Takumi jumped about two feet into the air. “Hear what?” he asked, a little too shrill. Oh please, please, please, Dragons above, don’t let whatever killed those two still be around.

“I-I think...it’s coming from the cart,” Hinata whispered to Takumi.

The two boys shuffled closer to each other, staring at the cart. “W-What do we do?” Hinata ask-whispered.

“I don’t know!” Takumi shout-whispered back. “Does it sound like a murderer with sharp knives in there?”

“No, it sounds like...” Hinata thought hard. “It sounds like crying.”

The two looked at each other, then back the cart. They came to a wordless understanding and slowly crept closer, giving a wide berth around the pool of blood. 

They slowed to a stop in front of the cart. This close, they could clearly hear some sort of sniffling sound, faint as it was. The two glanced at each other, and Takumi hesitantly walked forward, Hinata grabbing a nearby rock in case anything decided to rush out and attack them. Takumi carefully pinched one corner of the cloth and slowly, slowly lifted it. He peeked inside. 

Tear-filled, ruby-brown eyes looked right back at him.

 

\----

 

Takumi ordered Hinata to stay with the girl and be  _ very  _ sure she didn’t see the bodies (which were very much likely those of her parents) while he ran like the wind back to the village to get some adults who hopefully knew what to do. He didn’t quite get that, but he did get some adults.

They had all given similar reactions to the scene of carnage before quickly assigning roles. Some of the adults remained behind to clean up the scene and retrieve the bodies. The others checked for injuries on the girl and, after seeing none, quickly escorted the children back to the village. The girl didn’t speak the entire trip back. Even Hinata gave up after a couple tries, sensing that the girl needed some distance right now.

The village chief had sent a messenger to the nearby barracks for instructions on what to do in this situation, noting the valuable items in the cart and deducing that the deceased were of high station. The captain had arrived with a priestess by evening. The captain went off to determine who the victims were while the priestess performed a more detailed examination on the girl. The priestess declared her physically healthy, but mentally unstable due to extreme shock and trauma. She suggested a good deal of bed rest and a calm environment. 

Takumi really wanted that too right now. It hadn’t been that long since the incident, and he was starting to feel upset again.

Takumi really hoped this was the last time he would see dead bodies.

There wasn’t much space, but one of the families shuffled their entire house around, making space for the two, as the priestess was going to stay the night alongside the child to watch over her. The captain had returned later, face pale and hands shaking. He refused to give their identities when asked, only stating that they must take good care of the child while he convened with his superiors. It made everyone feel just a bit more panicked about the entire situation.

The girl still hadn’t spoken.

 

\----

 

Takumi woke up to shrill shrieks. Some part of his mind calmly recognized that the screaming came from the direction of the girl’s lodgings, and she probably just had a nightmare and everything was perfectly fine, but the rest of him was panicking because  _ the monsters are back they’re back oh gods I have to run hide get away from here right  _ **_now_ ** . He almost managed to get out the door before strong arms scooped him up, and Takumi screamed. He clawed and thrashed about and bit futily at whatever he could reach as he struggled for freedom. In the darkness of the night, his mind conjured up strange creatures and nightmarish monsters, green skin and clinking chains-

“-umi!”

Takumi screamed louder. The monsters from then were here along with his nightmares, and they were scrambling, fighting to be the first to tear him to pieces. Screaming mouths, bloody wounds, accusing tongues that wailed  _ why, why didn’t you save us- _

“-kumi, calm dow-!”

Why didn’t he save them? Why didn’t he save them from dying, from being crushed into itty bitty pieces of flesh? He was a blessed child. He was supposed to stop things like that from happening, right? He wasn’t even trying to escape anymore, he was just bawling his lungs out. The monsters were going to get him, he was going to die, everyone was going to die, and he wasn’t doing anything to stop it.

The arms holding him moved to hold him tightly, not caging, but protective. Warm. Takumi faintly noticed the presence of Kasumi as she caressed his head, murmuring words of gentle reassurance. 

The minutes ticked by. His cries turned to sniffles, Kasumi was still there, Hinata was there too, and the girl was quiet. Slowly, sleep overtook him. The monsters faded, their screams dissipating. 

And Takumi fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Takumi’s trauma resurfaces. As expected. It’s only been around two months, after all. 
> 
> Anyway, in case anyone couldn’t figure it out, the girl is Oboro. Feels pretty obvious, but I never actually wrote her name anywhere, so here it is. 
> 
> Also (on a funnier/lighter note) yes, Takumi did actually read those books of Sakura’s on top of a flying pegasus. He is very dedicated.


	13. Chapter 10.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrin tries to sneak out of the palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during Ch10, right after the first scene.

“Sister, I really don’t think-”

“Shhh.”

Hinoka looked greatly unamused by the hand covering her mouth. Corrin quickly scanned the hallway ahead before looking back at her, pouting. “Why are you being so loud? Are you trying to get us caught?”

Hinoka removed Corrin’s hand from her face. “Sister, we really shouldn’t be doing this. You’re failing in almost all the academic classes. The tutors are going to be very upset at you for running away like this.”

“Pff,” Corrin rolled her eyes. “Who cares what they think. It’s not my fault their classes are so dull. They should try harder if they want me to learn all that boring stuff.”

“Father’s not going to be happy either,” Hinoka pointed out.

“Hnng...it-it’ll be fine! Now come on!” Corrin grabbed Hinoka’s hand and rushed across the hallway, running into the courtyard and hiding in the nearby foliage.

“Why am I even here?” Hinoka muttered. “I should be going to the nearest servant and tattling on you.”

“Oh, come on, you get to ride a pegasus! I know you’ve always wanted to,” Corrin wheedled.

“I do, but not like this!” 

Corrin peeked between the leaves, ignoring Hinoka’s outburst. “Okay, there aren’t any guards around. Let’s go! If we wait too long, Takumi’s gonna get too far ahead and we won’t be able to catch up!”

Hinoka gave up trying to dissuade Corrin on her journey and decided to accept her inevitable punishment. Because honestly, there was no way they weren’t going to get caught. And as expected, in the pegasus stables a very angry-looking Yukimura was waiting for them, tapping his foot impatiently. 

Yukimura gave a deep, long sigh at the two children currently sitting in seiza before him. “Lady Corrin. What in heavens were you even planning on doing?”

“Uh, fly with Takumi back to his village?” Corrin said, twiddling her fingers.

“You aren’t even prepared for such a flight! There is not a piece of luggage to be seen on your figure!”

“I would’ve figured it out somehow!”

“Lady Corrin, this is not a joking manner! Such a journey requires a great deal of preparation, one which I can clearly see you have not done one bit of. Do you not realize how much danger you were putting you and your sister in? No guards, no flight experience, no luggage, no money, no knowledge of the lay of the land...you’re lacking in so many places I can’t even name them all! Heavens, what would we have done if you actually managed to execute this foolish plan of yours? The whole palace would have been in uproar! Lady Corrin, you need to understand your position more clearly. You are the High Princess, the first daughter of our esteemed Emperor and Empress, the pearl in their palms and a beloved treasure of this kingdom! You cannot simply decide to go gallivanting across the country like this! What would the other nations think! My word, you...”

Ah, they were going to be here a while, weren’t they. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick lighthearted drabble before delving back into the depressing stuff.


End file.
